The Bird Sail was the patented 1982 rigid ancestor of the wingfoil wing.
Maybe you have one in your father’s / grandpa’s attic or garage ?
Picture credit: Bruno Legaignoux, 1984 kitesurf inventor and patent holder.
Roland Le Bail, then a computer scientist in civilian life and originally from Carnac, Brittany, France, had the idea of developing this wing by observing seagulls on windy days - the Bird Sail was born. A relatively successful concept (but very much in competition at the time with the rise of windsurfing), it was almost 40 years later that the Bird Sail, now wingfoil or wingsurf, was finally democratised, thanks in particular to the advent of the hydrofoil…
